Game: Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Rangers
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Odds: Lightning -125, Rangers +105
Total: 5.5
The Eastern Conference finals shift back to Madison Square Garden in New York and that is a boost for the Rangers. New York has won eight straight home games and has not lost at home since May 3 and even that loss took three overtimes. Despite playing at home, the Rangers find themselves as a short underdog.
New York lost Games 3 and 4 but looked solid in both games losing Game 3 by a single goal, 3-2. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been one of the keys for the Rangers. In the Game 3 loss to Tampa Bay, Shesterkin faced 52 shots and still only allowed three goals. He faced 70 shots in Games 1 and 2 at home and allowed a pair of goals in each game.
The Rangers will also need production from their “Kid Line” of Filip Chytl, Kaapo Kakko, and Alexis Lafreniere. All three are 22 years of age or younger and they can all play. In Game 1, they totaled five points among them. Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad also need to step up their games if the Rangers are going to grab a ninth straight home win.
Tampa Bay did exactly what a two-time defending Stanley Cup champion would do. They won Games 3 and 4 on their home ice. The Lightning know that in order to win this series they are going to have to win at least one game in New York. To do so, Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will have to continue his stellar play. He has stopped 62 of 65 shots over the past two games. Nikita Kucherov has also scored a goal in the last three straight games and he has six points over that span to give the Lightning offense a boost.
Tampa Bay will not have Brayden Point once again tonight. The Lightning center is out again and is listed as out indefinitely with a leg injury. Even without Point, the Lightning have still performed well. Tampa Bay is 8-2 in its last ten games with the two losses coming in Games 1 and 2 of this series. The Lightning have only won once in their last five games on the road against the Rangers.
The Under has been the trend for both teams even before this series began. The Under is 8-1 in Tampa Bay’s last nine games and 8-3 in the Rangers’ last 11. Each of the last three games in this series has gone Under the total. Leading 3-1 in Game 4, Tampa Bay scored an empty-net goal and the game still went Under the total. In the last six games that the Lightning and Rangers have played against each other, the Under has hit five times. The Under is also 4-1 in Tampa Bay’s last five games on the road. Both New York and Tampa Bay are in the top ten in goals allowed per game.